Coach Wootten's Basketball Camp: Moving Without the Ball - Getting Open and Utilizing Ball Screens to Score

with Joe Wootten,
Bishop O'Connell (VA) HS Head Boys Coach; over 400 career victories;
5x Virginia State Independent Champions;
4x Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament Champions - including Back-to-Back-to-Back titles (2002-04);
3x WCAC Regular Season Champions;
3x Virginia State Independent Coach of the Year;
Director of Coach Wootten's Basketball Camp

One of the most difficult things to teach players is how to get them to play basketball without the basketball. In this great on-court video featuring Joe Wootten, you will learn how to show athletes moves they can use to get themselves and their teammates open, and also help them raise their basketball IQ by teaching them to read and react to the defense.

Coach Wootten covers all areas of movement without the basketball and progresses from the basics into more advanced movements.

Whiteboard Session

The cuts and screens covered are first shown on the white board, where Coach Wootten shows the teaching process and reads that each player will make. Wootten covers curling off screens, slipping screens, back cuts, and getting open on the wing.

How to "Get Open" Without the Ball

This idea, whiles seemingly simple, is essential for all players if they eventually want to create scoring opportunities for themselves or their teammates. Coach Wootten details the movements necessary to get open on the offensive end of the floor with various cuts, including the inside pivot, L-cut, and fake inside pivot.

Coach Wootten then breaks it down into two parts: getting open on your own and getting your teammates open. With the Individual Movement Drill Sequence, players will practice their skills in 1-on-1, 2-on-2, and 3-on-3 competitive games. Every detail from setting an effective screen to who each player should read only helps in the process of creating an effective and smart basketball player. Wootten emphasizes that players avoid making their mind up in advance.

The unselfish act of "getting your teammates open" is actually one of the most selfish things you can do in basketball, as it almost always leads to you getting open as well. Coach Wootten goes through a series of screens, teaching each screen, the screener's job, and the receiver's job. This is broken down to where players at any level can begin to implement these skills. The screening concepts and moves off the screen covered are:

• Drift Screen Technique
• Down Screening
• Back Screening
• Curls off the screen
• Reverse Curls
• Fade Cuts
• Pop outs
• Slips

Ball Screen Drills

A devastating offensive strategy, the ball screen may be one of the best in basketball, as both the bigs and the guards can benefit. Reading the defense is an area that Coach Wootten stresses. He takes time to make sure you understand the essential goals of the ball screen offense. Creating separation and creating mismatches are the two most common and useful benefits when using a ball screen. You'll see Coach Wootten break down ball screen reads for the bigs and the guards separately when they face the following defensive adjustments:

• Verses hedges
• Verses flat hedges
• Verses soft hedges
• Verses traps

In each of these strategies, Wootten gives guards and bigs the knowledge and techniques they'll need to successfully attack in every situation. With each section, Coach Wootten also includes some fun and competitive drills that help players learn how to put the lessons learned into action.

No matter what offense you run, this video will help you teach your players the progressions to reading the defense. From motion, to continuity, to set plays, this video is essential for your library and will help you teach your players the fundamentals of the game.

87 minutes. 2018